US stocks came under considerable selling pressure over the course of the trading session on Thursday amid profit taking. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 finished the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq tumbled 299.63 points or 1.7 percent to 17,619.35, the S&P 500 slumped 50.21 points or 0.9 percent to 5,570.64 and the Dow fell 177.71 points or 0.4 percent to 40,712.78. Tech sector led the declines as Nvidia fell 3.7% ahead of its earnings report next week. Consumer discretionary stocks also fell sharply, highlighted by Teslas 5.6% loss. In contrast, financials, real estate, and energy sectors ended the day positively.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest rebound by initial jobless claims in the week ended August 17th. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 232,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 228,000. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing existing home sales snapped a four-month skid in July, with sales rebounding by slightly more than expected. NAR said existing home sales shot up by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 3.95 million in July after plunging by 5.1 percent to a revised rate of 3.90 million in June.
Benchmark treasuries yield on the US ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, shot up 8.4 basis points to 3.84 percent. Meanwhile, the dollar index is staying near the lower end of 101 mark at its lowest level for the year so far. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, with traders looking for the central bank chief's comments to provide further clarity about the outlook for rates.
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